Francis Ngannou could face Deontay Wilder in a clash of KO artists as the MMA star considers a return to the ring. After leaving the UFC after defeating Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 in 2022, “The Predator” decided to roll the dice on professional boxing.

Although Ngannou suffered a narrow split decision defeat to Tyson Fury and was later knocked out by Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia, Ngannou has not given up on either boxing or MMA. “I never left MMA. I didn’t leave boxing either. I’m not going back to MMA, I never left MMA. It’s confusion,” he told BBC Sport.

“The fact that these fights happened at all was extraordinary. I had this dream for over 20 years and I finally made it come true. It was chasing a dream, a lifelong dream that I fulfilled.” After the fight with Joshua, Francis returned to the octagon in October for the first time in two years to face Renan Ferreira for the PFL Super Fights heavyweight championship, where he emerged victorious with a thrilling first-round knockout victory in Riyad.

“The Predator” Francis Ngannou is keen to continue his MMA career, although fans will have to hold their breath for a while as his heavyweight prospects seem slim. The only contender of note appears to be Denis Goltsov after his momentous victory over Oleg Popov to claim the $1 million heavyweight tournament prize.

One person who is particularly looking forward to Ngannou’s return to the boxing scene is none other than His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, who has announced that he intends to review Deontay Wilder’s readiness to return to the ring after back-to-back losses to Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang, before possibly matching him to “The Predator”. “I have to sit down with Wilder [for] two minutes to check his condition,” Alalshikh told DAZN. “I’ve been able to check it for two minutes [and check] whether it’s ready or not. I don’t want to waste time and money anymore. First I need to check if he still has it.

He also mentioned that Ngannou will meet him this month to watch Oleksandr Usyk’s rematch with Tyson Fury, hinting that they plan to hold numerous business talks. “Francis will come to see me in December [Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury] revenge. We have a lot of things to do together. Yes, I have two options on the table for Francis. I want to talk to him about one in MMA and one in boxing,” he added.

On Saturday, Liam Paro will put his IBF super lightweight title on the line for the first time against Richardson Hitchins at Coliseo Roberto Clemente in Puerto Rico.

Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom promotes Paro vs Hitchins and DAZN live television.

Paro (25-0, 15 KO) impressively climbed the rankings, and after eliminating undefeated Brock Jarvis in Brisbane, the 28-year-old knocked out Montana Love in San Francisco in six rounds and this paved the way for a fight against IBF boss Subriel Matias.

Matias was playing on home turf in Puerto Rico, but Paro had a certain victory.

His first defense seems arduous. Hitchins (18-0, 7 KO) is a technician who has won all 18 of his professional fights.

The 27-year-old scored a wide points victory over Jose Zepeda last September, which earned him an qualifier for the IBF crown.

To many, it looked like Gustavo Daniel Lemos had done enough to get the win with his aggression, but Hitchins’ boxing was preferred and he took the points victory to earn himself a shot at Paro.

Rivera attacks Gonzalez

Yankiel Rivera is a Puerto Rican who is clearly headed for stardom. He is defending his WBO Intercontinental flyweight title and is looking to add the vacant WBC silver belt in a fight against Angel Gonzalez.

Rivera (6-0, 2 KO) is coming off an impressive wide-open victory over Victor Sandoval and will want to continue his quick path here.

Gonzalez (14-0, 7 KO) is undefeated, but has only gone ten rounds.

Lebron will face Velez

In the super featherweight division, Henry Lebron (19-0, 10 KO) can win the IBF Latino and WBO NABO belts by defeating Christopher Diaz-Velez (29-4, 19 KO), who was stopped only in the final round by Emanuel Navarrete of the fight for the world title in 2021.

Castro clashes with Quintana

Marc Castro (13-0, 8 KO) is still in the learning phase of his career, but the lightweight fighter should have enough to defeat Argentinian Agustin Ezequiel Quintana (20-2-1, 13 KO) ahead of time.

Hackett meets Vazquez

In the welterweight division, Jalil Hackett (9-0, 7 KO) may defeat Jose Roman Vazquez (13-1, 6 KO) early.

Undercard remaining

In eight rounds, the hope of fighting in the bantamweight division Juan Zayas (10-0-1, 8 KO) can defeat on points Geraldo Valdez (16-2, 11 KO) and William Ortiz (6-0, 4 KO) in the super lightweight division. he can win at the distance against Lionell Colon (6-0, 3 KO).

Stephanie Pineiro (7-0, 2 KO) can also remain undefeated, winning on points against Ogleidis Suarez (30-5-1, 14 KO) in a welterweight fight.

The only four-rounder is in the super featherweight division, and Carlos Leon Castro (2-0, 1 KO) should be too much for Jose Alfredo Guevara (2-2-1, 1 KO) to win early on.

Tyson Fury does not regret that he attributed his May defeat to Oleksandr Usyk to the war in Ukraine. The “Gypsy King” lost to a Ukrainian for the first time in his career, losing a split decision in Riyad.

In a shocking turn of events, the British boxer alleged that the judges favored Usyk due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. “I believe I won this fight,” Fury announced after the match.

“I think he won a few rounds, but I won most of them. We both fought the good fight as best we could. His country is at war, so people side with the country at war. Don’t be fooled, in my opinion I won this fight and I will come back. I have a rematch clause. I thank Jesus for all the victories he has given me. I lost to the good little man by split decision. thank him once again in the mighty name of Jesus, we are going back home to our families and in October we will do it again. Good luck to Oleksandr, well done.

During the post-fight press conference, Fury commented: “It was a close fight. I thought I did enough, but I’m not a judge. I can’t judge a fight when I’m boxing it. If they had said to me in the last round, “You’re losing, go out and try to finish him off,” I would have done it. Everyone in the corner believed we were on top. All I had to do was keep boxing and doing what I had to do, I thought I did it.”

“That’s right, I won’t cry over spilled milk. I won many victories and gave glory to God. I lost one in a fierce fight against a good man like Usyk. That’s how it was. I gave it my all. Actually, I don’t know if it looked like it, but I was playing with my hands behind my back. I liked this good fighter, I caught him and he caught me. It was a good fight.”

During his recent clash with Usyk ahead of their rematch on December 21, Fury spoke about the reaction he received to his post-fight comments, saying: “No, I don’t regret anything. Why should I regret it?” he added: “Listen, it was a close fight. Usyk got the raise like he said, he won the fight. Fair play to him! I’m not looking for excuses, the guy beat me last night, fair play.”

“I think I won this fight, that’s my opinion. Like you had your opinion, he had his opinion, everyone had their opinion. But he raised his hand and I congratulated him, you can see it on TV. I kissed him on the cross as a thank you.”

Although parts of the boxing world believed that Usyk had the advantage in the initial fight, “The Gypsy King” maintained that his performance was flawless. He told BoxNation: “I have no excuses. I think I did fantastic. I give myself a rating of 10/10. I thought it was my best performance in six, seven years.”